At present, some telephone users, such as commercial users, industrial users, institutional users and the like, may record calls to various media such as audio tape or computer system storage devices, through the use of customer premises equipment (CPE). Most users do not however have this capability. When a voice call has been recorded, the vast majority of such users who do have recording capability have no way to prove that their recording was made at a particular date and time, between particular phone numbers, with particular participants, and further cannot demonstrate that their recording has not been altered or edited. In principle, a user could attest in an affidavit to these facts regarding a recording, but the user's mere statement of the facts may still be readily contested.
This kind of verifiable recording would be of use in commerce for oral contracts and could also be used in other situations in which it is essential that it be demonstrated that some particular agreement or communication had been transmitted at some particular time.